A Conversation with Collette Peters, Narcan in Transit & More

"I truly believe in transparency. Are we perfect? No. Do we have issues we need to resolve? Absolutely. But I want people to see the good stuff."

Housing over 157,000 inmates at an annual cost exceeding $8 billion, the US federal prison system is facing increased scrutiny as its level of understaffing becomes potentially dangerous and a disturbing pattern of abuse at women's prisons has unfolded in the public eye. CBS’ 60 Minutes sat down with Colette Peters to talk about her culpability in the abuses, her efforts to right the plagued agency, and where federal incarceration goes from here. The conversation presents a complex and urgent picture of the troubled agency, though a refreshing level of transparency from Peters.

"This is documenting there is a pipeline. The more you’re involved in discipline at the school level, the greater you risk involvement at the criminal justice level."

A new study by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and Texas A&M University’s Public Policy Research Institute this week reveals that identical schools suspend and expel students at vastly different rates. The study, the first of its kind, examined records of 6.6 million Texas seventh graders, tracking them over six years and linking education data with juvenile justice records to expose the alarming connection between classroom discipline and involvement in the juvenile justice system, often referred to as the "school-to-prison pipeline."

“Red, blue, and purple, almost every state in the country has figured out that 17-year-olds are different. Most did it generations ago. This should not be this hard for us.”

Under Gov. Jeff Landry, Louisiana is poised for a hardline shift in criminal justice, rejecting therapeutic approaches for juveniles, calling for tightened parole eligibility, and seeking to roll back reforms aimed at reducing the state's high incarceration rate. NOLA.com highlights some of the plans underway ahead of the 2024 state legislative session. 

"I want to promote the narrative that with resources and support most of us—if not all of us —have the capacity to succeed and make great positive social changes."

Christopher Beasley, an associate professor at the University of Washington Tacoma and formerly incarcerated person, serves as a shining example of the transformative power of second chances. Beasley, who grew up facing limited opportunities and negative influences in rural Illinois, now leads initiatives like the Husky Post-Prison Pathways project to support incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students in navigating higher education. His story highlights the profound impact of providing education programs in prisons, which serve key strategy in reducing recidivism and building a society that values redemption, The News Tribune editorial board writes.

"If there had been Narcan on the platform or around the car, someone might have been able to grab it and help him." 

In cities like Cambridge, Massachusetts—where 10% of all overdose patients were picked up by an ambulance near a public transit site between 2018 and 2020—officials have begun installing Narcan containers and equipping transit officers with the overdose antidote. Advocates say increasing access to overdose treatment in hotspots like public transit centers is critical to conquering the opioid epidemic, but some worry that adding public health-related tasks to transit workers' job descriptions presents an unmanageable mission creep. For parents like Sheila Haennicke, who lost her son to an overdose on Chicago's Blue Line train, the potential for saving lives outweighs any drawbacks.